The back of your head is REDiculous!!

SO! Apparently when I get bored, my hair is the thing that I turn to. For a while I was going for the bambshell look with long layers; but I started to miss my mullet. Yes, my mullet. like a little scene kid, edgy mullet thing. So one night I go so frustrated with how boring and flat my hair was, I chopped it. SOOOOO glad I did!!
Then I have been wanting to dye my hair for a while, but being in customer service I know some places dont like unnatural hair colors. Bbuuuttttt I figured I live in SF and it is almost expected. right? RIGHT?? Thats what I was telling myself the entire time. Because a couple days after cutting my hair, I died it RED. Im basically the little mermaid now.
My boss likes it, I love it, strangers love it. Everyone is happy.

After dying my hair purple for about a year or so, and doing research on this red business, I have some tricks for you.
I used: Loreal hicolor in red with a 30 developer. I used two tubes to cover AALLLLLLL my hair, and only one application. it was perfection.

Fourth day hair. Thats my best friend, Reba. We went to see Borgore, it was magic. (three weeks after I colored my hair)

Look at that mullet-y goodness!! (fresh dye)

now for the up keep of this glorious mane: its rough.

- I mix in hair dye (I use splat, just the color, the red one) in with my conditioner. I wash my hair and put on the conditioner at the beginning of my shower so it has some time to sit and redistribute some color. yes, my hands turn pink, yes it looks like I may have murdered someone in my shower, but its just my hair.
-I also have a bottle of normal conditioner that I put through my hair once the red conditioner mix is rinsed out. I do this because my hair is LONG, therefore dry and damaged. So I get some of that moisture back in there!!
-I do hair masks when I can. Im a poor college kid, so I for sure smear mayonnaise through my hair and then put it under a shower cap for how ever long I can stand. It's gross. But it works.
-I sleep with a towel on my pillows because I go to bed with wet hair (when hair is wet, it will bleed). My covers may or may not have some red stain on it. its casual.
-I also use a Moroccan oil on my hair every day. because Im addicted.
-I only wash my hair twice a week at most. I go three to four days between washing to keep this color looking good longer. On that fourth day I gotta get REAL crafty on how to hide the grease, but a sock bun does wonders.
-dry shampoo that head mop! I personally use Oscar Blandi powder. Its expensive ($19 for a bottle). BUT SO WORTH IT. and it lasts for.ev.er. My mom even told me a trick: when it is half way down, refill it with cornstarch = new full bottle!! My mom is brilliant.
-all of my towels and my bath mat are now colorful. So is my shower, whoops.

New Life

I have neglected you, dear blog. Life got very busy and I put other things before you. But I have thought about you, I think about how I've left you and it makes me sad. So I'm here again. I'm here to bring you new life.
Instead of doing just make up, I want to expand the topics on this blog to what ever flats my boat that day. I am still in love with make up, but with school, work, life, internships, friends, family; I dont have much free time on my hands! The difference between today, and the past is I have established a core circle here in San Francisco and now use my free time to spend it with people I care about. So I don't sit around my house experimenting with make up as much as I used to. And I have noticed my interests are spreading around and a big part of my life is now health. I am on a journey to be the best body I can and am in a constant state of improvement. This is what I want to talk about today.

I have always been a bit more health conscious than the average person, but I blame growing up in the bay area for that. But recently I have gone into a more passionate journey. I really pay attention to what I eat, and exercising is a big part of my life. Today Im going to talk about the tips I try my best to live by in order to feel and look my best.

1) Diets are for quitters: The word diet has come to mean something negative and it often has an end point. I don't see any purpose for this at all. Rather than go on a crash diet where you gain everything back, make lifestyle changes. The biggest one I made was to no longer eat land animals (chicken, pork, beef, turkey) and  I don't miss it after 8 years. My most current adjustment was to eat less bread and more veggies. Small changes that are permanent are much easier and often have a bigger impact. It is hard for a body to adjust to something drastic.

2) Eat recognizable foods: I recently started getting in to "clean eating". meaning that the things you are eating are ingredients that you recognize and are real. No one needs that chemical that is 20 letters long. By looking at food labels you can distinguish which product will be better for you. It is easier for your body to use the calories and nutrients in a "clean" food rather than have to sift through all sorts of chemicals.

3) Don't punish your self: Yesterday I ate dim sum for brunch, a quesadilla and chips for dinner and creme brule for dessert. Yeah, not my best food day, but you know what? I'm alive, and I didn't turn into a whale overnight. I had a bad day (hello hormones!) and that is what I felt like eating. The key is this isn't what I eat everyday. I make good choices most of the time so when I do just NEED that cookie, I eat it. Be proud of your choices because we all have bad days, but most of them are good.

4) Commit to exercise: You hear everyone saying this, but its true. It makes you feel fantastic, look good, stress relief, meditation, and detoxes your body. I found not one, but 5 activities I love to do (yoga, running, gym/nike, step, tennis) so I can pick one I want to do and get my sweat on. Also just walking helps, I dont own a car so I am forced to walk to the bus stop (half mile), but I also choose to run to my bank (2 miles) in order to make a deposit. look good, feel good.

5) Use technology!: I got my first smart phone about a year ago and OH MY GAGA has it changed my life. I work out with it (nike training club, 10k trainer), keep tabs on my calorie intake (my fitness pal), and get pumped (podcasts). This thing has made my health journey so much better. Its like having a personal trainer, nutritionist, and DJ in your arm band: and for free! (well, the apps are free, this phone was expensive)


Now that I have written my whole life on here, I'm going to go, because I actually have a final report to do for school. But I am going to try to post on here more with out the restraints of it being ONLY a make up blog.
The flood gates are opened!!!

VoxBox

There's a new website that is getting quite a stir here on the internet. It's called influenster.com. Where you create a profile and this company sends you a box full of products to try and talk about. I recently go the college VoxBox. It came with 5 products that any college girl would love.
 If you click here you can see a picture of everything. (and follow me on instagram!)

-evergy sheets: these are a lot like the Listerine breath strips, which is good. But these have added B vitamins to give you a little boost. I tried them last night and I liked the pay off, but the consumption was not the greatest. They're thick so they don't melt right away, and the after taste isn't something I look forward to. But I will use them! (mainly when I need a pick-me-up before I go out at night)

-imPress nails- I've wanted to try these!! I got a super cute black and white with glitter pattern and I can't wait to try them! So easy, just clean your nails, pull off the backing and press hard! they're supposed to last for a week.

-Tropical Necco Wafers- I remember these from when I was a child. They have a bad rep about being an awful candy. These are not too bad. I like the new flavors (coconut, passion fruit, strawberry, lime, banana, mango) but yes, they are still the wafers.

-NYC show time glitter eye pencil: LOVE! Black glitter eyeliner pencil, can you ever have enough of these??? I don't think so either.

-Pantel EnerGel pen: as a student, I always need new pens so I actually like that they included one. Ill be using it starting on tuesday when I get back to classes!


If you haven't already signed up for influenster, I would recommend that you do! Its free and the boxes are free too! Such a cool way to get and try new products!

What my father taught me

A couple of days ago I posted 'What my mother taught me', so now I'm doing what my father taught me. I don't think I have ever mentioned it, but I grew up in two homes. I have never known my parents together so it was normal for me to go back and forth between houses. They always lived in the same city (not anymore since I moved out), but my week was split up between two homes: my Mom's and my Dad's So, here's some things that my father taught me:

- You can do better: My father believes in doing your best no matter what. If your going to work, why not it be your best? He taught me to do my best and be proud of the work that I produce.

- Work for it: If I wanted something, my dad would usually ask what I am going to do in order to get there. He is a go-getter type person and has taught me that if you want something you need to go get it. No one is just going to hand it to you, that's lazy.

-Exercise is important: though I didn't understand as a child why my dad always recommended that I join a sports team so strongly, I understand now that not only does it form healthy habits, but develops important skills of working and winning as a group. It's also great for stress relief and keeping your head on right.

- Share with the ones you love, or even just like: My dad loves throwing dinners or parties that bring basically everyone he knows in the area together. He's all for "the more the merrier". My favorite has got to be his holiday party (which I now travel to Arizona to attend) where there's plenty of food and wine for almost his whole neighborhood. He taught me that a good thing is always better when shared with others (often referring to a bottle of wine, or when I cook up a batch of these nachos in the summer).

- responsibility: I HATED this as a child but it has indeed paid off now that I'm an adult (or that's what the government says I am). Me and my brother had weekly chores of cleaning our rooms, taking out the trash, and other things that we did anything to get out of. But now, I can easily keep my house in order with out the question of "someone else will do it". As my dad always told me "Just do it". I know, nike says that too...

- cooking (to survive): I'll be honest, as a kid my dad was not a very talented cook (sorry dad!). But my brother and I have a running joke about the only four things we had for dinner; chicken, fish, spaghetti, or hamburgers. I will say that sense then, my dad has broadened his cooking horizons. But If we wanted something else, we had to cook it. So that's what I did. I learned how to cook scrambled eggs in preschool and sense then I've been getting better and better. But, I still have a hard time eating spaghetti.


I have to say that I enjoyed these two posts. Parents play such a role in a child's life and I didn't quite realize it until I did this. I knew that they taught me things but you usually only recognize the small ones rather than the ongoing skills they secretly teach you (sneaky parents...)

What have your parents taught you that helped to shape the way you are today??????

What my mother taught me

Ive been watching a interview series called "The Conversation" with Amanda de Cadenet and Demi Moore. Its a wonderful series where its more of a conversation rather than question and answer (hence the name). Well, they always talk about parenthood and what they want their kids to learn. So this is what my mother taught me, weather or not she meant to.

-Ask for what I want: I sometimes would hint at things and she would just stare at me and say "cool, but what are you trying to ask me" which would force me to say exactly what I want.

-You can always make a meal with things you have: I often stare at my fridge and say "I have nothing" and then 20 minutes later my mom would have a meal on the table. pure magic.

- Its usually not worth yelling about: Every kid and their mom gets upset at eachother, but she had always had a calm way of handling things.

- Just make it: My mom has the mentality of rather than buying it, just make it yourself. Every time I visit her she made something new. I'm not as crafty as her, but I often think when I see things "I can make that" or I tweek something to make it better for me.

- Work with it: When something happens, it happens. There's nothing you can do to take it back, the only thing you can do is move forward and work with the situation. Figure out what you are going to do next, not what you could have done.

- Do what makes you happy: My mom is an engineer with a masters. Some parents would expect their children to take on interest similar to theirs, but when I told her I want to go to school for fashion and then make up afterwards she thought it was fantastic because its something I want.

All parents teach their children SO many things its hard to even begin to count them, these are just some of the things that she taught me as I was growing up, as well as the secret to the best pumpkin pie ever (cook the pumpkin down to a deeper color before making the filling)

Things my father taught me are coming up next

My Milkshake brings all the boys to the yard

When did this become a health blog?? I'm not sure. Because Halloween is around the corner, and my favorite holiday, I will be posting make up looks soon!!
But the other day I got a couple of packages in the mail that made me very happy. I ordered the combat protein powder in vanilla and some more royal jelly vials. The size of my powder jug is nothing of a joking matter, its gigantic. I ordered the vanilla flavor because I figured I could do the most with that.
I love starting the day with a protein/nutrition shake of some sort. I usually do half scoop of powder and save the other half for after a work out. I made one this morning and it tasted  nothing short of a thick and creamy milkshake. Who knew health food could do that???!!? Along with protein, I pack in just about anything else that will fit to get my body off to a good start. Here is what I made this morning:

What's inside:

-1/2 scoop combat powder in vanilla

-1 scoop Green Superfood from AmaZing Grass (has all the nutrients from all the best plants. get the unflavored one and it will just tint your drink green, you wont be able to taste it)

-1 vial of Royal Jelly with Bee pollen (SOO many nutrients and really boosts your energy, I did a quick google search and found out it might be the best thing for you)

-1 tsp of Chia seeds (these are very trendy right now, they have fiber, omega, and protein in them)

-1/4 tsp cinnamon (just a little bit of this stuff can boost your metabolism by 20fold, yes please)

-mango chunks (to get a fruity flavor, and the orange pigment in the mango helps to fight off cancer causing cells, Dr Oz told me)

-Non-fat milk till 3/4 full (I use the magic bullet blender in the single serving cups)

This baby whips right up!! it turns into this thick dream of a shake and with the mango and cinnamon in there its just the best. I also added a couple strawberries in there to get a more fruity taste. MAN OH MAN. This packs one hell of a punch but its nothing you have to force down :)

To get a thinner shake, just use water instead of milk, it still tastes good and has less calories. I just like the filling aspect of using milk. (soy milk or almond milk would also be delicious with this)

Lets eat!

I've been making an effort to eat a little better  (see post before) and I was completely unaware that I eat just about everything. I have been going along thinking this is how everyone eats. The first time this came to my attention was when I visited a friend in Boston, we went grocery shopping together sense I was staying with her and I was grabbing what I like to buy. And she remarks "Man!! You eat everything!!!" I hope you can imagine my face was very confused. I eat asian food, I eat mexican food, I eat seafood, and euopean food, and mediteranian, and south american. I could probably eat my way around the world with no problem. I don't cook just one way either, but its less varied than my restaurant choices.
The second time it came up was with my trainer. He had me texting him what I eat (so if I didnt want to tell him, I didnt eat it. sounds weird, but worked!) and one day he shoots back "You have the most diverse diet Ive ever seen" EVER???? I doubt that. But I guess I do eat alot of things that alot of other people won't. Ah, the plus side of growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area....

But one meal that I don't think anything of, actually gets me alot of looks and awe. You know when you order a pizza or pop on in the oven and you get a little salad to go along with it? well, I plop mine right on top. Yep. Mixed greens, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar right on top of some thin crust pizza. If I have it I throw some shrimp up there too.

Next time try it, the vinegar and the cheese with the tomato and the slight crunch of the lettuce is just wonderful and a pretty well balanced meal!! way to spice up pizza night into a black tie affair :)

There's my lovely dinner right there, with a magazine to keep me company.